Life is Just Another Game
by CloudsSystem
Summary: Izuku (ko) is a trans girl. She manifests a Quirk unlike either of her parents' and becomes friends with Bakugo from a fairly young age. Like any version of her, she wants to be a hero more than anything. Will eventually be rated M for violence
1. START: Meters, Part 0-1

LJAG Chapters 1-2

Chapter One

At the young age of four, I learned that not every child was born equal. I was labeled Quirkless and was from then on demoted to second-class citizenship in most areas of life. And when I complained I really had a quirk, nobody listened.

At the young age of four, I woke up to a sight I never forgot. The world was tinted green as never before, and thin grey lines ran in between green squares. A voice said hello and a prompt menu was displayed before me, with my tasks of the day. I shrieked at the sight and passed out. My mom woke me, having heard the shriek, and was pleasantly surprised when the Quirk I had manifested was something entirely new, not a product of either her's or father's Quirks. We went to the doctor for the first time about Quirk testing that day. He told us the results, that I didn't have a Quirk. My mom hugged me as I cried, but told me she believed me when we got back home.

—

It took me a while to realize that my quirk was neither some sort of hallucination, nor the standard function of human existence. I physically see grid lines overlapping reality, and there's an assistant bot that helps me remember things. It'll remind me about Daily Chores, Schoolwork and Studying, as well as exercise. As I got older and began filling journals more and more with analyses of heroes in action, I noticed a new meter, and eventually discovered a new system of my Quirk.

As I was updating the analysis note for Endeavor after a new move of his was just debuted, I noticed the usual progress bar for taking an action. I hadn't figured out yet how my quirk knew what my progress was, but it always did. I finished the update on "fire fist, — grabs enemy villain with both fists, unleashes flames, and leaves them on the ground" with a detailed picture to go along with it. I gave it a 5/10 for sheer effectiveness, but deducted by impracticality of such close range combat where many villains excel and that it causes unnecessary harm. Suddenly a screen popped up in front of me, one then I had to physically tap away after reading instead of quietly muttering 'exit.' It read: "Congratulations! You've reached Level 1! Here are your ATTRIBUTES:

Vigor: 2

Finesse: 3

Charisma: 5

Intellect: 6

Reason: 10

I clicked the window away, only to find another popping up a few seconds after:

"You may now add THREE POINTS to your ATTRIBUTES. You may SAVE these POINTS for a later date if you are not sure. They will not expire." I click the window away.

Next window reads,

"Here is a list of SKILLS you are EXPERIENCED in:

Analysis (Distant)

Cower

Observation"

Each of the skills listed are written in maya blue on the weird black background, underlined in a neon green text. I decide to click on the links one by one.

The first link showed up in a pop up window, as did the others. They read,

"Distant Analysis: Level 4

Used for situations when you must determine important attribute and gain understanding from a distance, without taking a more personal look. Useful for deciding wether to investigate a situation further."

"Cower: Level 6

Used to deflect attention given to you by bullies onto others. At higher levels of Cower, you gain minor bonuses in: Hiding, Stealth, and minor protection from Intimidation." "Observation, Level 5

Used to discern what is going on among commotion, as well as spotting minor details from a distance. Useful side-skill to Analysis: Distance, as well as Cower"

By the time I had finished dealing with the mass of pop up windows that I couldn't vocally exit from, only a few minutes had passed. Endeavor had the Villain he'd been fighting securely tied up and was waiting for the police to arrive, I suspected. I thought about the message towards the start about ATTRIBUTE points and LEVELING UP. I had given some thought about my quirk before, including as to why the doctor either couldn't detect my quirk or refused to tell us about it when we had our third quirk assessment visit at the doctor's last week.

Chapter Two

When I was eight, I noticed a new progress meter. I had grown up with progress meters on every action I took, from solving homework to taking a test, reading a book, or watching a television show. It was labeled "puberty." I knew the word from reading and from hearing some of the upperclassmen talk at lunch, about their siblings. I felt uneasy at the sight of the meter down at the bottom of my vision, just constantly there. There was only a tiny sliver and I knew it would take years to manifest any changes but the sight of it itself was creeping me up. I groaned and flopped my head back into the pillows of the bed as a pit grew in my stomach.

I pretended I was still sleeping, and then that I was sick when my mom eventually came upstairs to wake me, already worried by my lateness itself in getting up for the day. She clearly saw through my lies, which didn't help my anxiety about the whole mess. I grumbled and pressed my face further into the pillow, and long post the time when I should have left for school that day I finally turned the my head out of the pillow and told mom about the progress meter I saw and how bad I felt. She lovingly coaxed me out of bed and made me breakfast.

I didn't go to school tomorrow, and noticed the progress meter for "going to school" disappeared while eating breakfast. Instead, another new function appeared. It was entitled "QUEST." I vocally opened it, and told my mom I would show what was happening to her later on the computer, and then resumed to exploring the new quirk function. As I opened the QUEST function, a progress meter entitled "explore the QUEST function" appeared just above the puberty bar. I clicked on the display in floating blue that read: "See QUESTs available"

The first entry read in a dull red,

" ~ Discover Reason For Unease at Puberty Progress Meter ~ "

The next two were on a greyed out background with large black blocks covering the center of the text. I asked for it to be Revealed to me, but nothing happened. I clicked on the blocks and they buzzed softly but refused to do anything.

" ~░░░░░~ "

" ~░░░░░~ "

Since mom was still looking at me funny, I proceeding onto the clicking the first QUEST.

It looked like a dialogue box out of one of my RPG games.

In a funny font it wrote, filling the the letters as it went,

QUEST System Activated.

First Quest:

QUEST Provider: ░░░░░

Recipient: Izuku Midoriya

Objective: Understand why the progress bar on body's puberty feature makes you nervous and anxious.

Difficulty Rating: ******* Description: You woke up and found a progress meter that surprised you, what do you do? Side QUESTs: ░░░░░, ░░░░░

QUEST PARAMETERS

 **Outside Help Allowed: Yes**

 **Suggested Resources: Internet, Library, Mother**

REWARD: Understanding,

Clearer Mind

50 XP [Currently 45 / 270 to level 3]

Then in green and red lettering at the end, it reads

 **DO YOU ACCEPT THIS QUEST?**

 **I ACCEPT I DO NOT**

I click the accept button, and then rush back to my room to log on to my computer where I transcribe the entire QUEST dialogue options, making a complete copy with a design program. I print the sheets out, depression from earlier in the morning all but pushed to the background of my thoughts. I stick them in the binder I have specifically about my quirk and exploring it. It had been a while since the last chance I'd had to update the binder. The first year after I discovered my Quirk, which I've since decided upon the name Game for, there were a lot of discoveries. Between figuring out the ATTRIBUTE system, how it applied to others and learning to see what the ATTRIBUTEs of others around me are. There was also the process of understanding the progress bar and how it managed to know the progress of my actions when I myself did not. My research led me to find descriptions of Quirks semi-sentient and independent on their owner. One described was a birdlike weird that flew around its owner and attacked others who got too physically close, no matter what their owner had wished, though he had eventually learned to control it, according to the news article. The next page documented the skill system, and with a few pages following it about the skills and some of my hypotheses about them; there was now the newest entry added: QUEST System. I jotted down a few notes on a separate sheet of paper, initial suspicious and thoughts on how it might work, and add that.

Then I bring the updated binder to my mom, who I've been exploring all this with the assistance of. I explain what I saw and how I how it worked. My thoughts were split as far as QUEST formation might work; on one hand it might be my Quirk recognizing a need or trouble of my own and then creating a QUEST based upon that. The other possibility is any time a problem that is long term is identified in general, it will give me a QUEST regarding it.

After doing some reading together on Quirks somewhat related to mine, or as closely related as we could find, we had lunch, and then my mom sent me off to school. Just because I was late did not mean I should miss the entire day, after all.

— At School —

I arrive at school ten minutes before the end of the lunch period and find, predictably, Bakugo waiting for me at the school gates. Ever since I manifested a Quirk improvable by doctors (which he somehow heard about), he has made it his mission to ostracize me. Unfortunately for him, as proficient as I am with Cowering, in the past year, I've also learned the skill Dodge. This meant that when the punch was thrown with an explosion as I entered the school grounds, Game detected it and showed me the path to dodge into, as well as where to Lift him in order to topple him into the ground in a fluid motion. I walk straight to the classroom, not having to dodge any more attacks for the day, and take a seat.


	2. START: Meters, Part 2

CHAPTER 3:

A/N:

My teacher for afternoon classes only made a passing remark, luckily, about my absence during the morning. I still felt my face burn and pressed my face into the desk though when I had the attention called to me. Classes for the day otherwise proceed normally, even up until the after-school attempt Bakugo makes to bully me. A year ago his attempts would have worked, I would have COWERED, been beaten up, and never had the strength or finesse to resist. But after learning basic combat strategy through the extensive reading on the subject and spending hours watching old videos of broadcasted American hand-to-hand quirk assisted combat competitions over the internet, I was able to survive decently.

My seemingly newfound and almost overnight skills, where I get better at DODGing the more frequently he attacks me, frightened him into confrontation, as far as I can tell. The force of my DODGEs left him stunned, and to the point of using a full frontal blast on me that I couldn't dodge. The radius was too wide to manage such a feat. So I BRACEd and took the hit, lowering my stance to not be knocked flat against the wall, and raising my arms to protect vitals (face, upper chest, neck). I took the hit and didn't get knocked back. GAME informed me that the taking the brunt of such a strong blast has LEVELED UP my BRACE SKILL to LEVEL 2.

"SKILL HAS LEVELED UP" the message wrote in a bubbly, cheerful green font

I prompted OPENing the message, which led to a secondary dialogue page:

"BRACE HAS LEVELED UP. BRACE is now LEVEL 2.

At LEVEL 2 the following bonuses are gained:

\+ Resistance + Chance to not be STUNNED"

STUNNED was written in a deep purple, but the GAME interface did not allow me to open any pages further. I quickly CLOSEd the interface to get back to Bakugo. Bakugo was staring. Obviously my quiet commands and slight movements of the hands to close windows had not gone entirely unnoticed.

His usual obnoxious tone was with tinted with sarcasm and interest according to ANALYSIS (CLOSE) as he asked me, almost seething, how I was doing 'that.' He didn't elect to explain what 'that' was and he didn't have to. He wanted to know how I dodged, how I moved nimbly around him without much of a care. After determining quickly that an explanation was in fact what he sought after, I explained; just as I did two years ago, when I had barely gotten a true hold on it, I told him about my Quirk. That had been during a class show-and-tell. Nobody had believed me back then. All my quirk had for it was my word, I couldn't use it for anything and had still been exploring other functions, testing them. I do my best to withhold some information on my quirk from him as I explain the progress meter once again, and the SKILLs allowing me to to predict his movements. I make it sound like my dodging itself was entirely on my own, instead of a separate feature of that SKILL. I don't know if he buys into my explanation fully, but he stops bullying me for the time being.

A week later, he comes to me after school and silently walks back keeping a few paces ahead of me. He does this every day for the next four school days and when I don't question his actions and continually allow him to do that, he turns around halfway back to our homes and glares at me sharply. "Well?" His reply comes in the tone of a shout with his arms motioning aggressively at me as he would in a shout, but at a quieter volume than he would ever shout at. Does, "aren't you going to say anything about any of this?"

I look at him with a pleasant smile on my face, "No, of course I wasn't going to, Kacchan! I didn't want you to yell at me like you usually would!"

"Didn't you say your quirk could perform analysis up close?"

"Uh well yeah but I have to ask it to and you weren't being aggressive towards me so I didn't want to intrude so…"

At that comment he starts yelling at me with full force, small sparks igniting inside his clenched hands. "It isn't like I particularly believe in your ability to get into UA, _DEKU_ , but are you going to just completely give up on trying? It doesn't matter how _interesting_ or unique your shitty quirk is if you're an idiot seemingly committed to _not using_ _it_. Why the fuck would you not use it whenever you get the chance?" He shoves me down, "If you're not going to fight back or even attempt to learn from this then don't bother to come near me. If you want to earn your dreams, you have to earn them! Don't you _dare_ try standing on the same stage as me if won't put in the same effort as me. A week ago you might've been worthy, you were standing up to me!; so either get your act together and learn or lay prone and be my stepping stone!"

He stalks off with a run before I can protest or give a reply.

I look down and push myself into standing up, and chase after him. Sometimes Kacchan was hard to understand, but for this rant of his, I could see his meaning clear as the sun myself; no quirk was needed. He was angry at me for sure, but underneath that he felt wronged. He had seen me try me best to stand up to him, even if it was only in self defense and that had (briefly) elevated me into a person worth considering, outside of the background cast of extras that otherwise makes up his life. Then, when I didn't show myself to be exploiting my Quirk whenever I could it probably angered him because he saw it as an insult to his dream. Perhaps he was still being rude, but I understood his reasoning. If I had a dream like that, I'm sure I would still act more understanding and kind but it would be an annoyance. I jog home the rest of the way, with slightly more determination to do better.


	3. START: Meters, Part 3

CHAPTER 4:

METERS, Part 3

Chapter Summary: Izuku starts to push himself more with his training, and makes headway on several of his progress bars.

A/N: I'm going to parts of this, mainly Google and other search features as if the results were from the American google because I don't know how things like transgender awareness in Japan versus in other countries would exactly affect google search results. I realize this may be wrong but right now I really kind of don't care that much because thats too much of a pain for me to figure out and would take time. Also I'm just lazy.

Izuku remembers Bakugo's words and pushes himself.

He starts making daily efforts to get physically stronger and become smarter. He begins running and enrolls for practice time in a gym after a brief argument with inko about what sort of training he should go into. He spends much much more time in the library, trying seriously to catch up to Bakugo's own intellect. Bakugo notices Izuku's efforts and praises him by acknowledging his presence more. In doing so, he mentions to Izuku that it took some guts to be what he's done, and that he's kind of manly. Bakugo then leaves the conversation, leaving Izuku to stare at himself in the mirror, not seeing any connection between himself and who he is and "manliness." He plays it off as him just not being very manly… he is a child still after all..!

—

*last time…* "Perhaps he was still being rude, but I understood his reasoning. If I had a dream like that, I'm sure I would still act more understanding and kind but it would be an annoyance. I jog home the rest of the way, with slightly more determination to do better."

—

At home that night, I strike up a conversation with my mom during dinner. Normally dinnertime conversations are lighter, she'll worriedly ask me about my day in detail, making sure I stayed safe. I could tell from her strained face when I brought up Kacchan to her that she was already fretting about me, nervous to hear what he had done to me today. Even though I had been safe from him for the past week, that hadn't nearly been enough to convince her that he was safe to be around. It wasn't really enough for me, I had learned a fair amount about bullying behavior and the mental part of that on the internet around when it had started and I had told her that day.

So, because of her reaction and sightly stronger views about Kacchan, I ought to have realized she would tell me know when I asked about a gym membership "so I could become stronger, like Kacchan!" She fretted and worried and waved her hands around frantically protective of me as I tried to explain in greater detail why. "I'm not going to be a hero as I am now mom! Kacchan told me that and I know some about of that was just teasing and being rude to others because that is what Kacchan does, but thats not all it was. He wants to be able to have a rival, someone who can push him to be even better. And I want to get stronger mom! How am I supposed to save everyone with a smile on my face if I don't get stronger, smarts aren't good enough for that!" I put my hand over my face and apologize tensely for the outburst, but she doesn't remark on it for the rest of the dinner which we eat in relative silence.

The next day I head to the library before coming home, studying up Quirk Usage Laws, the History of Quirks and other related subjects. I hadn't looked at the mock exams yet, but I figured these subjects would likely present themselves somewhere in it. I was exhausted by the time I finished my homework.

I lay awake wondering about that nagging progress meter in the bottom of the vision, one of the things that I had thought to research briefly during that past week was what puberty was, all my mom had told me was something about growing up but wouldn't specify further. Everything I read kind of confused me, honestly. I knew that one day I would have to grow up and become an adult, like mom or dad, but I guess I never really understood just how it happened. Perhaps even stranger than the descriptions of what puberty would do was my reaction to finding out. I've never really been nervous about the idea of growing up, not when I've been so sure that I'd be a hero. What could I ever have to complain about in a life like that? But when I read about the subject, I was immediately filled with a sense of dread and disgust. I couldn't figure out why, and in the progress figured out that my ANALYSIS skills do not work on me, or at least not when I don't actually know the answer. _That's something to test later_. My thoughts returned to the subject, and I had a sudden idea that had not occurred to me before: this probably was likely not unique; I had no reason to suspect it was directly linked to the inner mysterious functions of my Quirk itself, thus this is most probably something that others have experienced before.

At that thought, the progress bar on figuring out why I was feeling this way spiked forward, hitting the 25% percent mark. Apparently that thought was a significant one to solving this problem.

I groggily turn on my computer, spurred on by a need to solve this mystery. I type in to the search bar: "puberty scared," "puberty nervous," "puberty not wanted," "puberty wrong," and "puberty changes dread" into five different tabs on the popular search engine. After spending most of an hour searching deeply into the five search terms, I get a lot of answers from others that mostly consist of messages about how its normal for a boys to be nervous about puberty and the changes that come with it. However, something about those answers does not sit right with me and just increases the dread, somehow. The progress meter nudges forward an inch at the thought, so I try to last ideas. The first is to write on a help site under a pseudonym and describe my situation, and feelings of assurance that this is definitely something other than just normal puberty nervousness. The second is something I had overheard from a librarian at one point. I repeated the last search term, "puberty changes dread" and then added a "NOT nervous" at the end of it. The large number of results shrunk down greatly, and also narrowed the topics that were returned. A lot of them used words that I hadn't heard of before, like "dysphoria" and "transgender," but other unfamiliar words were featured as well.

I decided to close my computer down for the night, and to check on the forum I had posted on tomorrow after school.

—

I wake up see my progress meter at 50%, a bump I hadn't noticed last night I guess. I go through the day with nerves wrecking my ability to properly concentrate in classes, though I still pay attention significantly more than most of my classmates. Even on my off days, I'm still a decent student. Out of everyone, only Kacchan makes any note, I see him look over a few times and raise an eyebrow at my distractedness; however, he doesn't comment on it during lunch or the walk home, where I skip the library for the day.

When I get home, I say hello to my mother and move on quickly to my room, my name Izuku plated on the door with a wooden All Might figure hanging on it. For whatever reason, my hands shake opening the door, nervous about what the forum might tell me. I had resolved to look up the terms I found last night if the forum mentioned them at all. I was tired last night and not particularly keen on going to look up complicated terms that I couldn't even get any secondary verification on. The forum had a few replies on it.

"I don't really have much of an answer for you but I'm having a similar problem and wanted you to know you're not alone."

"Have you heard of the word transgender? I have a niece of went through something like this when she was eleven… I don't know much about your situation, but if you're so sure that this isn't just a case of nerves perhaps that could be it?" That commenter then posted a link to the website's forum on gender, something I hadn't thought to consider posting in.

"I agree with the lady above" said the next commenter, "I felt the disgust throughout puberty myself, but wasn't able to do anything about it. I talked to a doctor about this at one point in my earlier 20s and that's how I found out about this." The final commenter also mentioned the terms, "I'm more in the boat of the second commenter… my sister was born a boy but during her puberty she started feeling really uncomfortable about how her body was changing. She wound up asking us to use a new name for her, and new pronouns (she instead of he…) She's gotten a lot happier since that started, and when she went to a doctor about it, he wound up prescribing some meds for her that lessened the puberty's effects. I definitely agree with searching for more help in the gender forum of the website if that sounds accurate to what you're feeling at all, maybe you'll have some luck there?"

End A/N:

I use dice to decide minor details about my story and…. my dice rolled a nat 20 on how helpful these commenters would be, thus getting not one but THREE comments affirming that a) transgender is a word b) its an actual thing and c) that it sounds kind of like what izuku described…. Bless this lucky trans gal…


	4. START: Meters, Finale

I let the thoughts from the forum roll around in my head as I worked on my homework that night. I went to look up the two words, even after getting a bit of a definition from the forum members. Just because people on the internet say it exists… Looking at the definition had been a little unsettling. Not in a way of disliking the idea of that, but in the way of seeing myself in those words. I had tried to push away the thoughts, but my brain wouldn't let me. I manage to finish my homework for the night before dinner was ready, so my thoughts got to torment me during an otherwise peaceful meal as well. It was halfway through dinner that my mind returned to the subject, and I did not bother attempting to derail my thoughts this time. Derailing hadn't worked and it might lead to something good in the end anyways.

At my next thought, a DING rang through my ears. "What if the sites are right. What if I'm not actually a guy? That… That would make a lot of sense towards explaining why puberty was so stressful… If. If I didn't really think of myself as a guy, then that would be horrible.." The QUEST's METER started steadily filling itself slowly, pink bubbles filling up from the bottom. It slowed down as it reached the end and eventually hit the top, spiking a large DING. I sighed as I continued eating. While it was nice to have a Quirk that allowed me to nearly-instantly realize any major revelation, just like this one, it was also a bit of a pain. I couldn't deny the truths of certain things and live in peace. If something important came up, I have to confront it, my Quirk practically forces me to.

A screen popped up:

QUEST COMPLETE.

REWARDS:

• Understanding

• Clearer Mind

• 50 XP [Now at 120 / 270 XP till level 3]

Immediately after I closed the screen, my mind calmed itself from frantic thought. I thought more clearly and purposefully. "Well, there's really no point in worrying too much about this. Looking at the gender forum before I came down for dinner, and reading through other posts on it, a lot of people recommending telling someone outside of the family first. "It can be really difficult to tell family, so I recommend having a trusted friend of some sort to tell first. Additionally, often times families won't be very accepting, so you should measure out if you would have any other possible place to go as a backup plan before you tell family. It isn't a fun thing to hear but it is a reality you need to be prepared for…"

Well. If I can't tell my mom, and dad's really never around, so that would really only leave my classmates. I don't get along with most of them, ever since Kacchan and his gang started bullying me, I quickly became unpopular with everyone except the teachers. _Could I tell Kacchan? Sure he's gotten a lot nicer recently but this is a huge secret! What would I do if he started teasing me about this? But at the same time, he would probably just see this as another challenge I have to overcome to become a hero, he's never really cared much about others outside of their strengths; logically speaking, there is no good basis for assumption that he would be different about this._

I eventually come to the decision that if I'm going to follow their advice, Kacchan really is the best person to tell. Or, not the best person to tell, but the safest person around me to tell, at the least.

It is almost a month later before I gather up the guts necessary to actually tell him, and when I do it is a bit of a mess. Unfortunately, while I have SKILLs like BRACE, and DODGE, I have yet to discover a skill for CALMNESS or anything similar. I briefly wonder why and add that into a notebook as a reminder to postulate on.

I approach him after school before we head home together. I have to explain what transgender means, but he takes it pretty well. He gets a little annoyed, but I soon find out that it is only because he was confused as to why I was telling him about it. As far as he was concerned, I guess this was just trivial information. Once I explained to him that this was important to be because it would be affecting how I hoped to present myself in public eventually, and hopefully would be making other changes, he started being less angry and more inquisitive, trying to use his brain to learn as much from this as he could.

We walk home from school together, the same as usual.

The day, Kacchan tells me that he was thinking we could go to the library first after school and then the mall. "You're a girl, right? I mean, that's what you told me yesterday," he says, scratching his head, "and most of the girls at school do things like wear dresses and that sorta thing so I figured maybe you'd want to do that?"


	5. START: Mall

We first head to the library first and finish our homework for the day. I check out a few books about quirk inheritance, which has become somewhat of an interesting subject for me since I got a Quirk completely different from either of my parents'.

Heading to the mall takes longer than usual, since the trains seem to be down today. Apparently there was a villain attack earlier in the day and the damages hadn't been fixed yet. We have to walk all the way there, which takes a while. When we finally get there, I get nervous and start panicking. I go with my mom when she shops for me to pick out clothing, but I've never been that good at it and I'm new to being a girl and nothing about this is easy and what if the clerk thinks I'm a boy and comments on it no dress I pick out is reasonably large enough to be for my mom and I look too young to claim it is for a girlfriend I don't have do I even like girls I— Kacchan shuts me up and tells me that I've never looked particularly masculine anyways.

"It'll be fine. Just don't give them some reason to think that it isn't fine or normal and I doubt you'll be questioned about anything. Besides, you've a perfect legitimate reason to be buying dresses anyways. You're a girl interested in doing feminine things like wearing dresses, so you have a good reason. Just tell them that if anyone questions you," he says nonchalantly, as if it wasn't anything important. As if it was natural for everyone to believe what he just said.

We see a たこ焼き (takoyaki) street vendor by the entrance of the mall, and I point it out to Kacchan. I have some extra money on me, more than I would need for a dress so I thought I would bring it up, maybe get something to eat on the way? Kacchan tells me we can get some on the way out, I should probably save some of my money for the dress after all, to make sure I have one that I like instead of just one that I can afford. And so, I go to into a store. Kacchan joins me and looks for sports gear for himself.

I pick out a couple of dresses for myself that I brought into a changing room. There were three that I actually tried on though. One was red and black, with a white belt across the waist. It fit me wonderfully and made me really happy to wear it. The second and third ones were a white dress and a black dress, made out of fancier materials with lace on sleeves. I decide to get the first dress, nervously folding it up and taking it to the counter where I get a bag.

The lady at the counter sees me and giggles, "that's a really pretty dress you've got there! Is it for you?" She asks sweetly. I nod gently and she continues, "well I'm sure it'll look great on you, such a cute girl." I smile and give her the money, eager to escape the terrifying social situation. I find myself waiting for Kacchan for around ten minutes before he comes out of the store himself, wearing silver gloves. He tells me they are meant to insulate, which will give him better sweat protection. I assume from his nonchalance that they are also at least somewhat proofed against explosions.

Having bought the first dress, I unfortunately don't have the money on me for たこ焼き (takoyaki). We wander home together, and resolve to go and spend more time together. Having friends outside of training has been a relatively new experience for both of us. For myself because Kacchan always scarred them away, and Kacchan because everyone was always too scared of him to actually be their friend.

I carefully hide the dress in the back of my closet when I come home, and do the best I can to only wear it when I'm clean. Kacchan and I walk around the city a few times going on adventures and the such with me dressed up, happily wearing what I want. Nobody that we know ever spots us. Or, if they did, they never say a word to anyone as far as we can tell. We go and get food, go to different libraries, and watch Heroes fight the evil Villains, always winning of course and striking down the evil of society. It was an interruption in this happiness, only a few months away from my ninth birthday, when my mother finds out about this.


	6. START: Lilac

A/N: Experimenting with a bit of a different writing style for parts of this chapter. It's a lot more somber than the usual for this story and I was kind of annoyed at how it was just meandering along, so I decided to just do this time skip...

The next month, my mom finds out. She sees my notes on hormones, and blockers, and sees the web page search histories. She finds the dress in my closet. She confronts me about it when I come home from school.

The dress is on the table when I enter the door.

"Mom! I'm home!"

"Welcome home, Izuku." The reply is dead, metallic, and stings. I walk into the room and cringe when I see my beautiful red and black dress on the table. "So you do recognize this. I. Izuku, you're okay. I. I've read up on this sort of thing before, you know? Any responsible parent should yknow? I just want you to know that you're okay and I do accept you for you are. You are safe in this home."

I breathe a slight sigh of relief.

She continues talking, "I... also saw your notes about the future Izuku. About the... medicines. I don't know what to say. I will of course always accept you for who you are, love, but I don't. I'm not really confident that I can ever endorse those medicines. What if they get made incorrectly? There's not that much testing on them anyways, Izuku. They're not safe enough! I'm fine with you presenting however you want, but I... I'm sorry that I really can't accept those! They're too dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt!"

What went on here was not legal and nobody expected it to be. It was a place to access materials, and sometimes, favors that usually weren't legal. Some of the stuff around was simply just restricted or hard to get, but still legal in some cases. Police and Hero raids sometimes came through but they weren't popular places to raid, this was the first floor of the underground black market so to speak, which meant villains and those who hated heroes were likely all abound. Not a great place for a hero to be. I may still be a hero fanatic, and aspire to be one myself, but when life kicks you, sometimes desperate measures can hold the answer. Like everyone else present, I wanted to find something I couldn't have, medication specifically.

I'm not alone in this endeavor, not be a long shot. It's a popular enough location, Lilac it's called for outsiders, that multiple forums I visited in asking questions directly referred me to it. The area knows no shortage of minorities left behind by society. An unfortunate truth and reality of the world today. There's an entire section marked with a red cross, signifying medicine is sold, traded, and bartered for there. There were other sections, a buster sign, a symbol for quirks disambig, and another, a log and saw for materials that aren't strictly legal. It's a mystery to the buyers exactly who they are buying from and where the goods are coming from. I think it is meant to be that way, it adds the secrecy to the whole process that makes it feasible in the first place.

Unfortunately, in my research on this, I learned that I almost certainly wouldn't have the money to get actual access to the meds I want, or anything that could remotely achieve the same effect. I was really just coming here to check it out, and see what the place was like. Curiosity fed the cat. If nothing else, I think whistfully, it wouldn't hurt me anything to see the price except any delusions of easiness about this whole process.

It takes nearly an hour for me to reach the front of the line, the booth is titled very plainly: "medication for transgender people." with the words, "blockers and hormone replacements" written in smaller font. I tell the clerk apologetically that I don't actually have enough money on me, but I would like to check the prices regardless if I could. He tells me that the booth isn't for window shopping and that I should just move along. "Life sucks" is approximately the closest thing that Lilac has to a motto.

A lady approaches me as I'm turned away from the booth, she doesn't do anything heroic like offer to pay for my meds - true heroes don't come here, after all. But what she does to is talk to me, "let me guess... you don't have enough 円 (en) on you to buy any of that stuff?" Her voice is smooth and rings like chimes in my ears, so melodic and captivating I nearly suspect it to be her Quirk. Her skin is a pretty light brown and her purple hair glows in the scene, reflecting the light glamorously.

I hesitantly reply, "uh.. yeah. First time coming to Lilac, really just wanted to check out the prices even if I knew I wouldn't be able to afford it..."

She ruffles my hair, "what a cute kid you are. I was like you once," at my stare, "what I'm trans. Are you not? Cause usually only the transgender kids are the ones at the booth" she rolls her eyes a bit when saying this. "My name is Aya, nice to meet you, what's your name?"

I stammer and mispronounce my name, "uh hi Aya, I'm izuko, nnice to meett you..."

"I was like you once, wandering around Lilac. Got taken in by an organization, officially work for them now instead of just being one of their lost children they sheltered. The leader has always been really big on making sure to help children that are especially at risk, that means you see a lot of LGBT youth, as well as a lot of others on the streets that aren't of Japanese ancestry, like me. I'm only 19 myself, been there since I was seven though." She rambles on, almost not paying attention to me, it seems, "the organization helped me a lot. They, we, call ourselves Rose. It's a pretty name, and fits with Lilac, where most of the recruitment is actually done."  
At that point, I interrupt, "w-wait, uh. Aya, are... are you saying you're trying to recruit me into this... organization of ours?" She nods,

"Well it isn't exactly _my_ organization. I don't run it though I am high on the staff list admittedly."

I nervously explain my situation, that I'm not homeless and my mom does accept me. Being targeted for recruitment like this overwhelmed me with feelings of guilt and shame at the idea of being so helpless, which didn't go away when she asked me, "well then, izuko. if you're so accepted by your mother... why _are_ you out here?" I go silent and drop it, "let me guess, she accepts the idea of izuko the girl but not the real you enough to let you go on actual medication?" I look down at the ground and make a frustrated grunt of a noise, "yeah. thought so." After a short pause, she says, "do you want to hear about Rose?"

I nod, again, and say timidly, "yes... yes, I think I would."

She continues, "Well Rose is... not really a criminal organization. We don't follow the law, that's for sure, but we also don't steal from the rich or those who are law abiding citizens. We essentially steal resources in raids and missions and then sell the materials back to the highest bidder. We make enough money from this to have a small payroll beyond simple room, board, electricity, and internet access; we are good enough at it that we don't get caught. That being said, what we are doing _is_ breaking the law, so under a strict enough definition, we _are villains_ and could be persecuted by heroes for what we do. But they put a roof over my head, have fed me for years, paid an electricity bill, gave me my first phone and completely funded my transition, all the way through now."

Nervous to find out, I ask, "what's the cost of all this?"

"Ya mean how much does it cost? I've no clue, honestly I'm pretty bad with money, one reason why I've never wanted to try and become leader. But all that's asked of anyone who isn't a full time member is one participation in a raid per month. That's all. They won't fund the cell phone in addition room and board costs if you're not a full time member, but a they'll fund a transition for a part time member." She waves her hands frantically, "and of course, you don't have to decide right now! You can take your time!"

"No. I mean, if I can get that... I'll join. As I mentioned, I'm still living with my mom, and I'm not really in a need to leave, but if she ever kicks me out... I'll live with you all and work more full time if that's okay."

That'll work for us, just a few questions. "How old are you?"

"Eight"

"What's your Quirk?"

"Game"

"Game? I've never heard of something like that, care to explain, dear izuko?"

I take my time explaining the relevant aspects of my Quirk. I focus on the progress meter, and how even when I'm not consciously aware of my progress in something, if I'm able to know it in theory, it winds up appearing, just as there is one for this conversation. Theoretically someone would be able to predict both of our words, and thus there's a meter. I tell her about SKILLs and DODGE and BRACE, two SKILLs I've found helpful, as well as the ANALYSIS SKILLs that alert me to new dangers and assist me in reading the moods of others, "It's how I figured that you were safe for me to talk to, as a matter of fact." Then I explain my attribute and level up system, and how I'm currently level three.

The next thing she does is take a swing at me. A punch, specifically, with her left hand. ANALYSIS tells me about it and frames the action slowly, almost like watching a replay at a speed of only a few frames in a second. I DASH over beside her arm, buckle my legs, align her punch over my shoulder. Next, I grab a hand onto both her body and her arm, and then swing her over me and into the ground, face first. She slams into the ground and looks at me, decently surprised. "Well okay, I believe that you have the Quirk you say you do. If not, you just have a really good reaction Quirk then... You say you'd like to continue living at home for now?"

"Yeah... I think I would. I think that would be for the best right now, besides, if I just came to live with you, she would just put out a search call for me and that wouldn't be pleasant later on. One... one last thing, Aya?"

"Yeah, sure thing kiddo, what's up?" She gets up and stretches back.

"Lilac and the other communities are typically very welcoming of heroes, and that's. I do still want to be a hero. It's my dream and I'm determined to try. All I can say is if I ever make it, I can do what I can to turn a blind eye so long as you still go after reasonable targets, but I... would understand if that would be a difference in morals that Rose wouldn't want in their ranks."

"Hey, bud. I don't think that's going to be a problem, even if you do make it. We can't tell you who, but you wouldn't be the first, I'll tell you that."


	7. ROSE: Part 1

Chapter 9?

Lilac, Part 3

She sends me off with a phone number to call. "I know you don't have a phone yet dear izuko, but if you get kicked out and we're not here when you come, go to the phone booth by the start of it and call this number. One of us will go and pick you up, it's a number dedicated for that. And just as a reminder, the days we aren't here are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. We'll still be around to pick you up, regardless, even on the off days. You won't ever have to spend a night on the street. We're here if you ever need it."

I nod, silently, "I understand."

As if she was berating a small child, which Is suppose I am, she says, "And I'm sorry if this comes off as mistrusting but I want to confirm to you that you aren't to try anywhere further down than Violet or Lemonade on your own. If you ever go further than that, it will be accompanied by at least two of us in Rose, understood? That also means that the Rose area is also off limits, Izuko. We are a name, but that's all. Don't go into any Reds at all if you can help it, and keep your distance from any blues and greens, even if they seem friendly. Anywhere that's a Blue or beyond is considered a lawless area. They don't have to have an assassination order to take you out. You annoy someone and they'll turn you inside out. A bit gruesome, I know, but that's how it is."

I ask, "Maybe it's uh… bad to ask now, because I haven't done anything yet for you all, but… I was wondering what the timeline for the medication would be, how I would get it delivered and all that.. I'd need a way to hide it, I think, and I want time to think up methods and backup plans before I bring home any meds."

She stares sort of blankly at me, "we uh. We can do injections for blockers and hormones instead if you want. It's uh, a lot harder to really get caught doing that, and it's not like an angry parent can throw away the rest of your pills for a month when you've already got the stuff inside of you." She checks the date quickly, "Say what. It's near the start of the month, and the raid is at the end of the month, if you have the time I can see if Lynx has stuff prepared and we could start now. No real point in delaying a whole month if you don't have to." I check the time. It's already seven, and I'm going to be wanted back home soon. It'll take at least a half hour to get home from here…. But… starting early…. Starting early would be great. "How long would it take Aya?"

She's on the phone for another minute or two before she replies, "Lynx has the materials, all in all probably less than forty minutes. Less than an hour for sure. Lynx has some other things that she needs to wrap up and that'll me the main time suck of this, waiting on her."

I decide that it is worth the wait. Aya puts on thorny ring shaded deep lavender, and a talon extends from a finger, blood red and demonic. It opens portal with a ripping sound as she drags it down the air, convincingly as if against solid material. The portal is a lighter, friendlier, strawberry color, though I can't see through it. I step through it when prompted by Aya, who grabs on my hand and tugs to tell me to get in. I'm led into a pristine medical room, much cleaner than any one I've ever been to. "Welcome to Rose HQ" Aya says. "Predictably, this is our medical room."

I'm kept waiting for twenty minutes almost before I see another portal emerge, the same strawberry color of portal that I came through. Out comes a woman, fox Quirk?, in a medical lab coat. Her skin is the red color of a fox's coat, and she has no human ears but instead a set of fox ears that twitch frequently. She wears glasses and has amber eyes. She waves hello and is about to ask me something when she then sees Aya and makes a noise, "ah. Welcome then, I have an inkling of why you're here since Aya is the one accompanying you. How old are you?"

"I'm eight, miss."

"Eight! So young!" She glances to Aya, "are you sure?" Aya responds with a glare at the doctor. The woman simply sighs and prepares a needle. "Testosterone blockers for her, yeah?"

"That's right, Lynx." Then, gesturing to me, "Izuko, this the woman I was telling you about briefly. Her name is Lynx, you might recognize her from the outside world though.. not famous enough for activities with us to garner attention though, luckily enough for us here in Rose."

The woman, Lynx, waves at me, "sorry for my attitude. I've had a long day and am pretty exhausted. You'd like the dosage of T-blockers, correct?" I nod eagerly. She takes the needle she's been preparing and walks over to me. "Okay honey, roll up your sleeve please." I do so, "This is probably going to hurt a little bit. It's a needle. Needle's aren't painless." When I give her a betrayed look, she rolls her eyes, "Life isn't fun and games. If it were, you wouldn't be here. I'm a medical practitioner, I try not to lie. That includes telling you that this might kind of suck." She checks for… something on my forearm and then sticks the needle in. Just as she said it would, it hurt. I grunt and squeeze my other hand and then the pain is over. She sticks a bandage over it, it's plain. Not cute at all.

A… really.. really colorful lady sticks her head through the door and then walks in. Her body is a jigsaw of different colors, not consistent in color, size, shape, or frequency. I vaguely make a comparison to the disco balls in movies on TV. "Hi! I heard a gate being opened! I just _HAD_ to say hello, you see! I'm momo! You should call me momo!" She picks up a hand and shakes it frantically, "it's absolutely _WONDERFUL_ to meet you, I've heard nothing about you and have no idea who you are or why you're here! Oh! Wait! Are you a new member?" She bounces up and down excitedly, "Aya！ AYa ！ AYA！ did you bring us a new member today!? Oooh boy so exciting another cute girl in the club! Hi I'm momo, oh wait I already said that. Oh hey! I haven't asked you _your_ name yet? What's your name?" She says all of this in one breath, eyes widening even further as she does so, and colors calming down a bit as she talks.

"Uh. I'm Izuko.. nice to meet you… I'm not a new member, not… not really. I'll be joining you all for some missions but I'm still living at home and didn't want to give that up just yet."


	8. INTERLUDE 1: MISTAKES

It was almost three weeks after I had gotten the shot. It was a Thursday and the first mission would be in just three days, when I could get my next injection. Which I had been feeling guilty about. I knew it was wrong to hide it from my parents, to hide it from mom. I guess technically I hid everything from dad since he's never around. That thought saddened me so I tried to switch back. Apparently my nerves had been large enough that they completely showed through my normal behavior, enough that Kacchan noticed and even asked me about it. The idea of a worried Kacchan was so unusual it almost scared me at the time.

Part of me wondered if I told mom now, how she would react. It hadn't been hard to hide it, it was almost extraordinarily easily, in fact to hide it. She saw the bandage once, and I told her I had gotten scrapped while running. She knew I was good enough with this to do it by myself so she never pried, she was always busy with things to do. But I wondered, if I even made it into UA, would I have to hide where I lived? Where would I say I lived on application and residence forms, what about parentage? And if I can't even keep this a secret from my mom, it's not nearly as large as the secret I'll be keeping at UA. If I can't keep this a secret, how will I ever keep that a secret?

And yet I still feel a need to tell her. Maybe she'll forgive me. Maybe it'll work out. Maybe it'll be okay as long as she isn't the one paying for it. Somehow. Somehow these words convince me that it'll work out. That everything would be okay.

I walk down to the kitchen where my mom is making dinner. I slowly explain what happened, leaving out everything involving Rose. I simply explain that the reputation of the place is really high, almost as high official medical institutions and is generally a lot cheaper. I tell her I got it in shot form instead of tablets because it was cheaper per pill, and that that's what the bandage was actually from. I bow my head down and apologize for lying to her and keeping it hidden, but I felt too bad to keep it hidden for long.

She doesn't say anything for the longest time. She keeps making dinner. We eat dinner in silence and I'm about to head to my room for the night after having watched a Hero movie with her next to me when she grabs me and stops me. "No." She says. She has tears in her eyes, "No, no izuku."

"I… no to what?"

"No. That. That isn't your room Izuku. You promised me. You promised me you wouldn't go and do anything dangerous. How exactly is this not dangerous? You could have gotten a horrible infection! It doesn't matter to me what random people on the internet say about safety! That doesn't mean anything when it's still from a black market! You can't trust what they give you there Izuku you can't!"

"I'm sorry mom…"

"What am I supposed to do if I can't even keep my precious child safe? I can't even keep you safe in my own home Izuku! Just. Leave." I stop in my tracks. Her tears get louder and I can see the falling on the ground. "Please. Izuku. Please. Tell me it was all a lie…." I don't say anything. Her words get louder. "It was a lie wasn't it Izuku! This whole thing was just a lie! You've been such a good boy such a good child! You wouldn't go behind my back like this would you Izuku?"

"I'm sorry mama…" I let myself tear up and walk out the door.

As I walked out of the door, Game activated and showed a screen:

You current ATTRIBUTES and SKILLS are not sufficient to survive without shelter. For your self-preservation, please seek shelter.


	9. ROSE: PART 2, A New Home

A/N: So... yeah. That happened. Chapters have been a bit short, so the next few are going to be on the longer side.

I'm outside. Luckily it isn't raining. I don't have my binder about my Quirk. I don't have my journals. I'm alone. I try opening the door and find it locked. I wonder if I could get into my room and grab my things. I still have the card on me, I _was_ told not to let myself loose it, so I've kept it in pants pockets ever since I got it, never letting it out of my grasp. I try to climb the wall and get into my room but I fall down. Should've known it'd be useless to try.

I make my way to a telephone booth and dial the number I was given. A voice I don't recognize picks up the line, "Yo! Who this!"

"I. My name is Izuko…"

"Oh! Izuko! Aya warned us it was possible you could be calling at some point! You're that new kid Momo got to meet, ya?" I squeak out a yes, "Well, where are ya calling from. I assume you need to get picked up?"

"I.. Yes. I'm calling from right near my house, I have a lot of valuable things for my quirk left there that I couldn't retrieve and I wanted to get them before making it back to Lilac if I could…"

"What's the stuff?"

"It's a binder detailing all compiled information regarding my Quirks as well as eight notebooks completely filled with information about pro heroes, their movements, how they fight, and everything I could analyze or theorize about their Quirks."

"Ya sure you want to be a hero, talking like that? Almost sounds like you're some sort of villain going into meticulous details about their Quirks, it could easily be used against them in a fight, you know. We _are_ Villains" he laughs a bit and apologizes for scaring me, "don't worry, we aren't _that_ type of Villain. We don't and won't hunt down heroes. That's a nasty business that doesn't pay nearly well enough for the danger it brings in, not to mention how much harder it is to recruit others when that's what you're doing. So, we don't do that."

"A-a-anyways… do you think someone could uh help?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sure thing, I'll send over Marie. They'll be of help for what you want. Just make sure you describe the items well to them, they're a bit of a uh, idiot."

A few minutes later another one of those portals opens, this time it's pitch black. The person stepping out of it is dressed in a red sweater and yellow sweatpants, and is rubbing their eyes sleepily. They ask me what the things I want brought back are and I try my best to describe them to who I assume is Marie. After a few minutes, they start walking towards the building. They collide and bump into it, "ughhh I guess it's made out of something else. They try again and this time seep through into it. A few minutes later they come back with my requested items, as well as some other books. "I uh, figured maybe these would be helpful yeah?"

"Oh! My school books! Uh yeah! I… wasn't entirely sure about what I would be doing for school, so I… didn't mention those.."

"We can figure that out later!" They hand my things to me and then they spread their hands wide, creating a black portal. When I step through, I'm in what looks like a lounge for some sort of store. I can see a white medical room, incredibly similar to the one I was in before… and make the connection that this must be what the rest of the Rose HQ base looks like. There's one person other around when the two of us enter. A small girl, who looks to be around me age, maybe a year or two older. Her skin, about average in color for someone of Japanese decent, is engraved with dark lines crisscrossing everywhere I can see, from her feet to her arms to her neck and face. The lines change color in places, switching from a deep red, to vibrant blues, greens, and yellows, with hints of purples and pinks towards the bottom of her neck and the center of her arms. The crimson red underlines all of these and seems to be the dominant color present. Few portions of her skin seem untouched by these markings. I immediately wonder if they're related to whatever Quirk she has. She cheerfully introduces herself as "Taz! Call me Taz!" A soft smile appears on her face and then she goes back to reading a book.

I ask her what it is and she flashes the spine of the book, "Monster Manual?" I say questioningly.

Quietly, she says, "yes. Monster manual. Before Quirks appeared, people played games where the fantasied about having powers of their own to fight evil monsters. My Quirk lets me summon monsters that I create, into this realm. Larger and more dangerous require more life power to manifest in this world, and also more to banish. It's always easier if I'm summoned a particular creature before, if it's small, or if I created it myself. Banishing is easier and summoning. It doesn't cost me anything to maintain a creature or to control it."

I think I might have forgotten to respond because she quickly covers up her face with the book again and looks nervous doing so, "sorry I didn't respond! That's just a really awesome Quirk you've got! I'm a bit of an enthusiast about Quirks and I've never even heard of one like that before! It's incredible!"

Marie puts a hand on my shoulder and tells me to not be so serious, "lighten up a bit, kid. Taz gets pretty nervous around new people so it might take a while for her to get used to you, you'll get used to her in time as well though. The things she creates though, I doubt you'll ever get used to those…" their voice trails off with a bit of horror in it. "Seriously, the things she dreams up… I don't know if she's just creative or finds a bit too much inspiration in her creations…" At my horrified look they tell me, "Well, you don't need to really worry too much about that. And you'll see the things soon enough, she's a regular on missions and since she's still learning the ropes of them — only been here about four months after all — we have to take her on missions more often than most regulars, so she goes usually three times a month."

At all the noise we're making, one of the doors slams open and a dude with sharp, exhausted, cold eyes, slanted distinctly upwards and away from the center of his face, walks out of a room with an audible yawn. His skin is a dark brown, with a mint green stripe running down the middle of his limbs, accompanied by a thinner, nearly black stripe on either side. His hands are full on claws, talons coming out His hair changes is constantly color, remaining luminescent through all the gradual changes to it. I look down and see his feel are claws too. He waves, "ugh. Marie. Hey. How're ya doin." He doesn't say it like its a question and sounds very groggy, I suspect we woke him from sleep. "Aya and Momo are out on a mission. Just the two of them, Lynx couldn't go and I've already done one this month." He appears to only finally notice my existence when I awkwardly wave to him and introduce myself, "… Oh. So that's why there was all this commotion. We got another new kid. Well. I'm bad at these things so uh, welcome aboard. I'm Terra. You can uh, probably guess why I'm named that." He says this while stretching and lifting a piece of dirt from ive no clue where into his palm. The dirt crystalizes and becomes a diamond, falling on the floor. It levitates and slowly melts, then forms some sort of metal. He leaves it like that, shaping it into a small, pretty trinket, which he hands to me. "Here, for you. Consider it your welcoming present." I don't go to school the next day, or the day after, or any day that week, while trying to adjust to this new life.

The Monday of the next week, and the week of my first mission, I head to school again.


	10. School

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go out wearing something like this!" It's been a full week since I moved in with Rose. I've missed a week of school and now I'm returning. Returning as a girl. I know I'd never have been able to do this if I had stayed with my mom. I still miss her, but maybe it's for the best.

Aya drops me off since she's the one that looks most like an adult out of everyone there, Lynx excepted, and Lynx is would get recognized easily enough as a pro-hero. She opens up a portal and pats me on the head, "do good in school! We'll pick you up back here! The portal'll open again at 4pm! Don't be too late and make us search for you!" I nod stiffly, trying to hide my anxiety about the whole situation. I was now wearing a uniform I'd never worn before, had long hair, and started getting practice from Aya the past week on voice work. It was a lot but I could still blend in fairly well, I thought. I walked through the gates of the school without a problem. Either nobody recognized me, or they did and just didn't feel up to commenting on it. The problem game when I stepped through the gates and approached the door. Someone laid a hand on my shoulder, gripping it tightly. I heard the voice of a devil speaking, "OI. Where have you been, DEKU!" I hesitantly turn out and see burning eyes staring at me, through me. The head brings itself closer and shark's teeth appear from the mouth, "OI DEKU, ANSWER ME YA LITTLE SHIT" comes out of the mouth, as easily as "Nice to meet you," or "Thank you for the meal" should in a normal person.

"H-h-hey Kacchan…" I stammer, my heart racing and my ANALYSIS going overdrive in an attempt to determine if this hostility poses an actual threat to me or not.

"We're talking during lunch. Don't be late." An explosion pulses behind me when he says this, emphasizing his point with explosions instead of grammatical structure or tone of voice.

"O-okay…"

I walk into the classroom and sit down, keeping my face approximately pressed against the table all the way through role call. "Midoriya, Izuko" is called and it takes a moment to register hearing _that_ name called instead of my old one before I respond "aah! Present!" I look and find Kacchan equally surprised; that's one more thing I'll have to explain to him, for sure. "It's good to have you back after you were sick for so long" the teacher says remotely before proceeding to the next name. _Wait but if my mom was calling in sick for me… How would she have known to stop today, hm.. that's something I'll have to ask Aya about maybe she knows…_

Lessons proceed fairly typically up until lunch break when before I can get out of the classroom one of the guys stops me and asks, "Izuko… aren't you just Izuku? Weren't you a guy? What're you doing with this ugly girl's uniform on? Comeon… why don't you change back into sensible clothing or something?" One of the guys in the background laughs at that and I hang my head, looking for a place to hide, somewhere to escape to. Luckily for my safety, ANALYSIS is working fine. I see several escape routes from the situation and duck out of them and into the hallway past the crowd of guys when Explosions fling them ring back into my path. I, a second later, find myself being dragged by a spiky-haired demon.

I'm dragged all the way out of the building, nobody bothering to interfere. This is Kacchan after all… he's kind of scary when he wants to be. "Explain yourself."

"Eh? Huh?"

"I said, explain yourself. According to the teachers you were calling in sick yet when I climbed up to check in your room to see if that was actually true cause I mom wouldn't say anything you. Weren't. there. I went back the next day and you weren't there either. So tell me, Deku. Why haven't you been home. Nobody in the neighborhood has seen you leave your home or go back in, _I've asked_. So. Tell me now." He raises one fist and lets small blasts pop from it harmlessly into the air, the other one picking me up by my shirt. I wriggle out of the grasp,

"Okay okay Kacchan. I. Don't live with my mom anymore. I'm.. kind of surprised you didn't think of that, honestly. But that's why nobody's seen me be home or seen me leave. I haven't been there since Thursday night, around eight pm I'd say? That's about when I left."

He hands unclench and the explosions quickly die down. "Yo. What. You aren't living on the streets right? Are? Are you okay? Shit. Fuck. What the fuck." His voice turns nearly monotone, the only emotion left in it a mixture of despair and confusion. He starts pacing back and forth frantically, "I. Seriously? What. What happened?"

"I…" I tense up, not enjoying the direction this conversation is going. "She found out a while back, about the whole transgender thing. Me not being a guy, all of it. She saw my plans I discussed with you about trying to get on those medicines in the future, remember me going through the plan about that?" He nods. "I… she said no. She said she wouldn't accept me doing that. I thought that maybe she just. Meant that she wouldn't be willing to pay for it, so I saved up for a month's dosage of the injectable kind of T-blockers. It was less expensive for whatever reason than buying a full month's dosage of pills and it was a lot easier to hide. That was… about three weeks ago I did that. I got nervous about lying to her about everything and about having done that and.. I told her. She got upset and told me to leave."

Kacchan is now staring and gaping at me. "She said that?" I nod slowly. "Where are you living now?"

This was a question I had been prepared for. Although Rose was a criminal organization, by technicality really, they also had a half of the business that operated as a legal front for the place and was what Aya and Terra credited to them never being caught by authorities. I gave him the name of the address and told him I'm staying as a helper, officially an intern that's unpaid, at Rosaries' Bouquets. "It's kinda weird staying there but a lot of the others are transgender too and it's a nice place. One of them has a warp quirk, which is how I'm going to be able to get too and from school every day."

"Just. Stay safe okay. And get a cell phone so we can keep in contact."

"I will. They said after I do some more help around the shop they'll get me a phone."

"Okay. Okay. I. God. Let me come visit some time, I want to make sure you'll be okay. I can't just lose my shitty rival like that know."

The rest of the day went by without incident. Kacchan got a lecture by the teacher before class but his outburst rather reinforced the notion in others that they shouldn't mess with me too much. It was nice, even if the lesson was taught through violence…

When I returned back to Rose later that afternoon I saw that Taz was still around, reading the same book again, but this time with a sketchpad. "Huh, Taz, did you get back from school already?"

"I don't go to school" she says distractedly, and as if the statement wasn't ordinary.

"You don't go to school? Why not?"

"Because I'm not going to achieve the dreams I had. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a hero. I suppose every kid wants to be a hero. All I have is a strong constitution and a quirk for killing. Besides, being a criminal takes less effort. And I'm lazy." She looks at me and blinks twice, "I didn't sleep last night so I'm gonna go to bed now. Goodnight Izuko…"


End file.
